Compiled from public reports
Auntie Chen’s CAR-T experience: from lymphoma relapse to two-year follow-up
After lymphoma relapse and a poor response to second-line treatment, Auntie Chen received CAR-T at Shanghai Ruijin Hospital in 2021. Her story follows successive assessments: the two-year assessment reported in 2023 still showed complete remission. This is the experience of a patient from China.
Compiled by SinoCareHub · Information checked: 2026-10-12
Patient overview
Aunt Chen (publicly used name) · China · Shanghai · CAR-T · Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
- Treatment in China:
- Shanghai Ruijin Hospital · Axicabtagene ciloleucel CAR-T in 2021, with cell collection and infusion.
- Outcome at the reported stage:
- Complete remission at day 28, three months and six months after infusion; still in complete remission at the two-year assessment.
Why CAR-T was chosen after relapse
Aunt Chen was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in July 2019. She relapsed after first-line treatment, responded poorly to second-line treatment and had a TP53 mutation. After axicabtagene ciloleucel approval in 2021, she received this commercial CAR-T treatment at Ruijin Hospital.
Treatment in China: Cell collection, infusion and a brief fever
The cell collection treatment process began in June 2021, and CAR-T infusion was completed on 2 August. The product was axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yikaida).
She briefly developed fever during treatment, with temperature falling after medicines.
From the first assessment to two-year follow-up
Imaging on day 28 after infusion showed tumour control; three- and six-month assessments still showed complete remission. At June 2022 follow-up, she had been unable to attend the planned nine-month visit because of the Shanghai outbreak and planned an August visit.
August 2022 follow-up confirmed complete remission at the one-year assessment. School of Medicine information in October 2023 again recorded completion of the two-year assessment, still in complete remission.
Continuing follow-up after discharge
The Ruijin team set up dedicated and online clinics for CAR-T patients, with individual follow-up handbooks and healthcare staff contacts to monitor health changes and reassessment results. Aunt Chen completed repeated response assessments after infusion and remained in complete remission at two years. The most recent cited account was published in 2023 and does not establish her current condition.
Sources and scope
- [1] NEJM publishes Ruijin Hospital Professor Zhao Weili's team article, providing new CAR-T lymphoma evidence in Asian patients
Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine · Ruijin Hospital ·
- [2] How effective is the CNY 1,200,000 anticancer infusion? Follow-up with China's first CAR-T patient
The Paper ·
- [3] 'One infusion makes cancer cells disappear' is not true: doctors and patients recount CAR-T lymphoma treatment
Wenhui Daily · Tang Wenjia ·
Image source: Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine / Ruijin Hospital · Ruijin Hospital care team group photograph (not the patient)
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